Twilight of the Elites and New Episode of the Breakdown

[Christopher Hayes]

Hey all

Time magazine does an annual new ideas issue and this year I have one of the essays in it.  It's called "The Twilight of the Elites" and is a distilled version of the theme of the book I'm currently writing.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/printout/0,29239,1971133_1971110_1971117,00.html

Here's an excerpt:

"In the past decade, nearly every pillar institution in American society — whether it's General Motors, Congress, Wall Street, Major League Baseball, the Catholic Church or the mainstream media — has revealed itself to be corrupt, incompetent or both. And at the root of these failures are the people who run these institutions, the bright and industrious minds who occupy the commanding heights of our meritocratic order. In exchange for their power, status and remuneration, they are supposed to make sure everything operates smoothly. But after a cascade of scandals and catastrophes, that implicit social contract lies in ruins, replaced by mass skepticism, contempt and disillusionment."

We've also got a new episode of The Breakdown up in which we interview Professor Walter Stone from the University of California-Davis on just how much advantage incumbency confers on politicians.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100329/hayes_breakdown

Finally, wanted to thank everyone for your support, affection and kind words during my maiden TV voyage. It meant a lot and helped get me through. Relieved to no longer have a knot in my stomach ever waking second!

Onward,
-c